[Sca-cooks] period rice pudding

[Barbara Benson]

> Stefan> Any ideas on how to dress it up some for a pot luck or feast dish?
> Sprinkle slivered almonds on the recipes calling for almond milk? Of
> course any rice pudding with saffron in it would have a gold or yellow
> tinge or color.

Greetings,

I have been doing a good bit or research on period garnishing and have some
suggestions. First off, of the recipes that are referenced one has
garnishing instructions:

Source [Curye on Inglish, Constance B. Hieatt & Sharon Butler (eds.)]: 129.
Ryse of fische daye. Blaunche almaundes & grynde hem, & drawe hem vp wyt
watur. Wesche þi ryse clene, & do þerto sugur roche and salt: let hyt be
stondyng. Frye almaundes browne, & floriche hyt þerwyt, or wyt sugur.

...Fry almonds brown, & flourish it therewith or white sugar.

This is pretty much in line with what I was going to suggest. You can rarely
go wrong with putting sugar on top, I would suggest getting some fairly
coarse sugar if you are going to have a white pudding or a very white sugar
(put regular sugar in the food processor and make your own powdered sugar)
if you are going the saffron direction. And whole toasted almonds.

Based on several other recipes which contain both rice and almond milk you
could also get away with a sprinkling of pomegrante seeds. I would cover the
top of the pudding with sugar and then arrange the almonds around the edges
and sprinkle the pomegrante seeds all over. It would be lovely. And comfits
would do nicely also.

Here are some examples with various instructions:
Libro di cucina/ Libro per cuoco:
V.  Blancmange. ...When the dish is cooked pour into a bowl to serve.  Dress
the dish with rosewater, sugar, the reserved almonds that have been fried
and cloves.  This dish should be very white like snow and potent with
spices.

Markham
145 A Whitepot.
Take the best and sweetest cream, and boil it with a  good store of sugar,
and cinnamon, and a little rose-water, then take it from the fire and put
into it clean picked rice, but not so much as to make it thick, and let it
steep therin till it be cold; then put in the yolks of six eggs, and two
whites, currants, sugar, cinnamon, and rose -water, and salt, then put it
into a pan, or pot, as thick as if it were custard; and so bake it and serve
it in the pot it is baked in, trimming the top with sugar or comfits.

Platina
41. Blancmange ... When it has cooked, put in three ounces of rose water,
and pit it on the table either in the dishes where the meat is or
separately, but in smaller dishes. If you decide to pour it over the capons
so it may seem more elegant, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds on top.

Glad Tidings,

--Serena da Riva